English 1 The Scarlet Ibis Essay Prompt

Write an essay telling how, even though he loves his little brother, the narrator in The Scarlet Ibis causes
Doodles death. Give three reasons why the narrator causes Doodles early death.
In each body paragraph, discuss how the narrator having a cruel side, trying to put him on a development
program, and pushing Doodle too hard leads to the end.
You may also put in comments about how guilty the narrator feels after he finds Doodle under the tree, and how
the narrator has taken a future away from Doodle.
Requirements for Final Draft:
Must be typed, double spaced, Times New Roman 12 point font
Heading with name, date, and class period in upper right hand corner
Submitted to Turnitin.com
Points:
Quote Assignment- 10 points
Outline- 20 points
Rough Drafts with peer editing- 20 points
Final Draft- 50 points
Submitting to Turnitin.com- 5 points
Total: 105 points
Due Dates:
Quote Assignment- October 11th
Outline- October 13th
Rough Draft- October 18th
Final Draft with quote assignment, outline, and rough draft- Oct 24th
Outline for The Scarlet Ibis Essay
Directions: On a separate sheet of paper, copy down all the bold words. Then, write down what you will
include for each part of the essay. You do not need to write in complete sentences. You will use this outline to
organize your rough draft.
Introduction Paragraph:
1. First sentence: HOOK
a. Good ideas for a hook: a quote, a general statement, shocking information, or a question
2. Second sentence: Connecting Sentence
a. Connect the hook to the story. Include the title and author.
3. Third and Fourth Sentences: Basic information/background of the story.
a. If the reader had never read this story before, what is the BASIC information he/she needs to
know to understand your essay?
i. Introduce main characters (full names and nicknames)
ii. Briefly introduce Doodles condition
4. Fifth Sentence: Thesis Statement

a. Example: Even though he loves his little brother, the narrator in The Scarlet Ibis causes
Doodles death by having a cruel side, trying to put him on a development program, and
pushing Doodle too hard.
1st Body Paragraph: Cruel side
1. Topic sentence: State the topic of the paragraph- The narrator causes Doodles death because of his
cruel side. Include a transition word.
2. Quote:
3. Commentary: Explain the quote- the context of the quote and what it means
4. Commentary: Why is it important, what specifically does it show, how does it support that the narrator
caused Doodles death?
5. Quote:
6. Commentary:
7. Commentary:
8. Concluding Sentence: Summarize the body paragraph. Restate the topic of the paragraph- the reason
why the narrator caused Doodles death.
Quote and Commentary example:
It was bad enough having an invalid brother, but having one who was possibly not all there was unbearable. So
I began to make plans to kill him (Hurst 555). In the beginning, the narrator wanted to kill Doodle because he
was ashamed of him. The narrators desire to kill Doodle shows his cruel side and makes it easy to believe that
the narrator caused Doodles death.
2nd Body Paragraph: Development program
1. Topic sentence: State the topic of the paragraph- The narrator causes Doodles death because of the
development program. Include a transition word.
2. Quote:
3. Commentary: Explain the quote- the context of the quote and what it means
4. Commentary: Why is it important, what specifically does it show, how does it support that the narrator
caused Doodles death?
5. Quote:
6. Commentary:
7. Commentary:
8. Concluding Sentence: Summarize the body paragraph. Restate the topic of the paragraph- the reason
why the narrator caused Doodles death.
3rd Body Paragraph: Pushing too hard
1. Topic sentence: State the topic of the paragraph- The narrator causes Doodles death because he pushed
Doodle too hard. Include a transition word.
2. Quote:
3. Commentary: Explain the quote- the context of the quote and what it means
4. Commentary: Why is it important, what specifically does it show, how does it support that the narrator
caused Doodles death?
5. Quote:
6. Commentary:
7. Commentary:
8. Concluding Sentence: Summarize the body paragraph. Restate the topic of the paragraph- the reason
why the narrator caused Doodles death.
Conclusion Paragraph:
1. Restate thesis statement from introduction.
2. Sentences 2-4 should summarize each body paragraph topic.

3. Tie to the bigger picture- Connect the ideas presented in your essay to your life, the world, etc.